Social Media Articles

Pride Stores LLC, headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts, put an extra emphasis on its online presence by hiring a social media manager. After almost two years, Chris Szarek has grown the company’s digital profile by strategically using Google business tools, Facebook and more.

Busy Bee is headquartered in Madison, Florida, and includes two truckstops and 16 convenience stores located primarily in Florida. Busy Bee #14 in Jasper, Florida, has ten full-time employees and a leased Huddle House. Busy Bee #25 in Live Oaks, Florida, is a bustling 22,000 square feet.

Text, tweet, post, blog! Social media is an inexpensive, flexible and easily traceable way to expand awareness and target the modern consumer. Most travelers today are equipped with laptops and minis and tablets and phones, and the growing millennial market is technically savvy and ever-connected.

Independent truckstop and travel plaza operators are constantly seeking out new products, great ideas and the latest business innovations. But NATSO members aren’t just in search of new ideas, they’re more than willing to share them with their peers.

For years truckstop and travel plaza operators have relied on paid advertising to attract their local customer base, but now a growing number are turning to social media to promote specials and build relationships. Whether they’re logging on from smartphones or signing on at home or work, today’s customers are plugged into social media. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare and Yelp have hundreds of millions of users. For retailers the sites are a way to promote their business and also a way for them to be a part of the conversation.

To better understand their customers, truckstop and travel plaza operators are relying on old-fashioned, face-to- face customer service while also embracing technology to initiate conversations and engage with a customer base that is constantly on the move.

At The NATSO Show 2013, NATSO will host its popular Human Library sponsored by Bridgestone Commercial Solutions. A handful of experts with decades of experience will be on loan for customized, one-onone learning experiences operators can tailor to their own objectives.